DocuTIFF’s arrival in this world reminds me of The Curious Case of Benjamin Button, because it came to life mature (not old) given that in its DNA runs thirteen years of TIFF’s valuable experience.

Every year it plays with new cinematographic creations as it renews itself with the energy that comes from each courtyard of our world where people express themselves with a camera in their hand.

It explores with a natural sense of adventure the ports of hundreds of unexplored places to bring images of the prominent and the famous with their commercial charm, while it also carefully offers room to those stunned voices by the ‘dictatorship of distribution’ that sing beautiful songs that are so simple and sensitive to life with all its misery and dreamed happiness.

DocuTIFF is faithful to old loves, as it is eager to fall in love again with all their new creations.

For it is conscious of its strange destiny that with each year that passes, it takes its life and is rejuvenated from individuals whom it might never know and meet; yet it tries with all its heart and soul to make their work known and recognized.

This is how I see DocuTIFF and I am so happy and grateful that fate has given me this opportunity to live my life this way.

Understandably, it is not always as in fiction. There are countless dramatic moments that accompany our work throughout the year. There are also comic instances that bring us to tears, but as life itself, it’s truthfully funny, strange and curious at the same time, how we continue despite the existential difficulties in this field, where our work is not seen as a priority and we somehow miraculously survive thanks only to this unconditional love for cinema and truth.

It’s precisely this quest for the truth and my idealistic soul that helped me create a new rapport with this important film genre. This need to share with your own contemporaries the complex truths of our existence was far stronger than the comfort offered by television advertising or the conceited life of social networking.

DocuTIFF gives one the opportunity to find the similar souls among the billions of them, gives one confidence and strength in pursuing the truth, and it rekindles the hope that with a small camera in hand you can do a great film.

DocuTIFF’s selection confirms once again that the love for truth is the only requirement to make a great film, not the budget, the crew, the director’s name nor the place it comes from. For the determination for this quest of truth is the fundamental condition for a successful documentary film.

In this second edition of DocuTIFF we have selected a large number of films - 180 of them, taking a big risk but we were tempted not to deprive the public of confronting these truths coming out of around hundred countries, that different as they may be, are entirely similar to the truths we face in our country.

Our mission will be fulfilled if after the 8th of June the cameras in the hands of the youth will not only be used for selfies, but also as a tool to discover themselves through the lives of others.

I was impressed by a sentence in one of the feature length films in competition.

“Sailors are like terrorists. They arrive in ports with a bomb called love and throw it. And do you know what happens? The bomb explodes when they go away and they never come back...

Like those sailors, I would like that after the closing of the festival these 180 filmic bombs that we screened, will continue to inspire many new Albanian films, fueling filmmakers with more love for the documentary form and to turn their attention to this truly cinematic genre.

But now we just landed, so I declare the festival opened, wishing all the participants, the juries, the foreign guests, the public and DocuTIFF' stuff, success and the best of luck!